NZ Career College invest in water safety skills for future nannies

With the support of Swimming New Zealand 20 nannies from throughout New Zealand have received training in relation to keeping young children safer around the water.

Swimming New Zealand ran the Young Children in Water course for the NZ Careers College in Wellington where each of the nannies will soon be graduating and working in homes throughout the country.

With summer just around the corner, a key focus of the training was to have the nannies thinking about the importance of planning before visiting a water environment. There was substantial discussion in regards to what needs to be considered when planning a trip to the water and many nannies indicated they would make themselves a checklist before taking a trip to the water to ensure they are well planned and ready for their day.

The course involved a theory session including discussions around water hazards around the home, the local community and the importance of 100% supervision at all times. This was followed up with a practical pool session where the nannies learnt basic songs and activities they can use in the bath or other water environments.

There was a focus on different pieces of equipment that could be used to enhance water experiences, including cups for tipping and pouring activities, floating and sinking toys, mirrors to encourage tummy time in the bath and paint brushes to encourage fine motor development and the crossing of centre lines.

As the nannies will be working with children between the ages of 0 to 10 years of age, there was plenty of discussion around what children get up to when around the water and how quickly their development changes from day to day.

During the course, videos including beach and river safety were included to ensure a range of environments are explored and the dangers these environments present are discussed. With rivers and beaches being highly represented in New Zealand drowning statistics, this is a worthwhile discussion to have as many of the participants are not aware that these areas are so highly represented statistically.

It is fantastic to see the NZ Careers College investing time into their training nannies and valuing the importance of safety around water. Swimming New Zealand look forward to continuing to work with the NZ Career College and wish all of their graduating nannies the very best for their futures.